Amelia Bence

Amelia Bence, born María Amelia Batvinik on November 13, 1914, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, emerged as one of the most luminous stars of the Golden Age of Argentine cinema during the 1930s and 1940s. The daughter of Belarusian Jewish immigrants, she discovered her passion for performance at age five at the Lavardén Children's Theater, later refining her artistic skills at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación. Her cinematic debut arrived in 1933 with Dancing, the nation's second sound film, where director Luis José Moglia Barth christened her with the stage name that would become legendary. Bence's breakthrough came with her powerful performance in La guerra gaucha (1942), a landmark film that cemented her status as a leading lady, followed by the iconic Los ojos más lindos del mundo (1943), a title referencing her distinctive purplish-green eyes that became her trademark. Throughout the 1940s, she garnered widespread acclaim and numerous accolades, including the Silver Condor Award for Best Actress for Lauracha (1946) and multiple honors from the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences for her roles in Todo un hombre, A sangre fría, and Danza del fuego.

Beyond the silver screen, Bence forged an extensive and revered career in theater that spanned eight decades, encompassing international tours and critically acclaimed productions across Latin America, Spain, and the United States. In 1950, she married Spanish actor Alberto Closas, with whom she formed a celebrated artistic partnership until their divorce in 1955, and later shared her life with Charlie Ortiz Basualdo as her final husband from 1980 to 1982. Despite facing political blacklisting during the Perón regime, she persevered through diverse mediums, pioneering television work in the 1960s and starring in popular series such as Romina and Bianca in the 1980s. Her contributions to the arts were recognized with the prestigious Silver Condor for Lifetime Achievement in 1989, along with honors from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pablo Podestá Prize, solidifying her reputation as "the face of Argentine film." After a remarkable career that included over 70 films and countless theatrical triumphs, Bence retired in 2010 at age 96, passing away in Buenos Aires on February 8, 2016, at 101 years old, leaving an indelible legacy as a cinematic diva and cultural icon.